Lindsay Roache
Young cancer survivor chooses oncology nursing
Lindsay Roache, pictured above with Darian Aidala, brings a survivor's perspective to her role as caregiver at Children's Hospital Boston.
When nursing student Lindsay Roache cares for teenagers with cancer at Children's Hospital Boston, she knows exactly how they feel. She's been there.
"I came back to face the past," says the 22-year-old, who is going full circle from patient to caregiver.
Roache was a sophomore in high school when she learned she had leukemia, and finished treatment at the Jimmy Fund Clinic (JFC) and Children's when she was a senior. She still remembers her response to her diagnosis: "I don't have time to be sick!"
"The hardest time to have cancer is when you're a teen," explains Roache. "Cancer didn't fit my plan. I was an honor roll student and a dancer. I had long, thick hair and my body was starting to develop. It was a terrible time to face the assault of chemotherapy and radiation."
What was the worst part of her experience? Not the lumbar punctures, nor the radiation treatments. It was losing her hair. "It's really hard for a teenage girl, who is very concerned about her image, to be bald," she says. "And your hair does not come back the same after cranial radiation."
Despite the time spent in cancer treatment, Roache graduated from Rockland High School on time, near the top of her class, and emerged with a perspective many wait a lifetime for. "Some people my age float around. But I know what's important: family, friends, giving back."
The impetus to give back shaped her decision to become a pediatric oncology nurse, but not right away. "If you had told me then that one day I'd go to nursing school and return to the same scene, I would have said, 'Are you crazy?' On the other hand, I took note of the incredible care the nurses gave me, and when it came time to decide on a career, that was the direction I chose."
Cyndi MacKinlay, whose son Andrew was cared for in the JFC and Children's at the same time as Roache, recalls that whenever they saw Lindsay, she would be at the bedside of a new friend or high-fiving a younger patient. "It was obvious how much she adored children."
Making a difference
Roache is in her fifth year at Northeastern University, where students can combine coursework with clinical experience. Some things about this particular rotation are hard, she admits. Just the sight of the wallpaper and smell of soap bring back painful memories. "On my second day, I was asked to watch a lumbar puncture, and I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready. I remembered how painful that procedure was."
She supports creating a program of research and care for teens and young adults. "We have special needs and concerns that don't fit neatly into adult or pediatric care," she says. In order to contribute her perspective, she began serving on the Pediatric Patient and Family Advisory Council after her cancer treatment ended. MacKinlay, a fellow council member, recalls her waiting patiently to add her thoughts about the needs of kids her age. Roache and fellow teen member Sarah Schulte helped develop a survey of their JFC peers that led to the addition of age-appropriate movies and magazines for the clinic, and a new space there for teen patients.
After a recent visit to Children's with Andrew, MacKinlay recalled, "When Lindsay walked toward us in her blue scrubs, it was like a ray of sunshine coming our way. Images of her coming full circle flooded my mind. It warms my heart to think of her ability to offer hope to the children and families she cares for."
